Eddie Hearn always knew how good Jaron Ennis was, but even he may have underestimated his abilities.

The Philly star hadn’t come close to losing a fight but to be fair, it wasn’t like he was facing world-beaters. It was easy to chalk up his wins to a byproduct of underwhelming competition. However, when he was officially scheduled to face Eimantas Stanionis, Hearn was intrigued.

The Lithuanian was a title holder and highly touted, but not even his ubiquitous offense and perpetual gas tank were enough, losing via sixth-round corner stoppage.

Hearn, once he picked his jaw off the ground and popped his eyeballs back into place, was speechless. At some point, he’ll have to snap back to reality and find his man an opponent. But while he’ll do his best to find someone worthy of Ennis’ time, Hearn is afraid that he won't be able to. It isn’t because the boxing world isn’t filled with talented and great fighters. But more so because Ennis’ talent is ridiculously high.

Well, actually, there is one fighter that Hearn believes can challenge Ennis and possibly beat him.

“Boots against (Terence) Crawford is the best fight in boxing,” Hearn told The Ring recently. “Unbelievable fight. You have two of the best technicians in the sport.”

Crawford and Ennis are analogous in many ways. They’ve run through their competition, both are switch-hitters, and neither man is willing to back down a single inch. Ennis (34-0, 30 KOs) wants the opportunity to face him but Crawford, on the other hand, hasn’t been so receptive to that idea.

At the soon-to-be age of 38, Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) can see the light at the end of his pugilistic tunnel. So, with practically one fight remaining, he’s decided to move up two weight classes to challenge Canelo Alvarez in September.

Hearn becomes a bit despondent when he realizes that a mega matchup between Crawford and Ennis likely won’t happen. There is, of course, a flicker of hope that Crawford decides to stick around a little longer. Hearn, undoubtedly, will explore and gauge Crawford’s interest but he’ll give him space and time to deal with what he has ahead of him first.

“He’s got Canelo to deal with.”